Coolum turns out for new festival of Clive

Journalist

On any given Saturday, it is usually Jeff, the towering tyrannosaurus rex, that holds court as the star attraction at Palmer Coolum Resort.

This Saturday, however, Jeff was overshadowed by an arguably much larger figure.

Fresh from a high-profile week in Canberra, Clive Palmer, the billionaire mining magnate turned politician, now reconfiguring himself as the people's champion, was the champion of his people at his Sunshine Coast resort.

The member for Fairfax invited 100,000 of his constituents to the Coolum estate for his inaugural Fairfax Festival weekend and by Saturday afternoon, about 5000 had accepted the invitation.

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A tsunami of selfies to rival a Kevin Rudd re-election campaign was triggered each time Mr Palmer cut through the crowds of people enjoying the free entertainment.

''I'm not seeking people's votes, I'm just trying to do the best I can for them,'' he said, when a journalist questioned him whether it was a vote-buying exercise.

''It's not about power really, it's about serving the community and doing what you think is right.''

It has been a week of surprises from the climate change sceptic who, with the world's most recognisable advocate for climate change action, former US vice-president Al Gore, by his side, unexpectedly emerged as an ally of the left.

The leader of the Palmer United Party announced his three senators would support the repeal of Labor's controversial carbon tax, though unexpectedly announced they would move to legislate an emissions trading scheme that would swing into action when Australia's major trading partners adopted similar measures.

''Australia has less than 1 per cent of the total share of world carbon,'' he said on Saturday. ''We delude ourselves if we think we are going to change the world. What we can do is set up a framework that leads the world.''

He said his senators would block the government's plans to scrap the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and potentially wind back the renewable energy target.

On Saturday, he reasoned the CEFC was a ''profitable company'', while Prime Minister Tony Abbott should seek endorsement of plans to wind back the RET at the next election.

''If there is to be a review, there's plenty of time to change after next election,'' he said. ''The Australian people have a right to know.''

''It's hard enough as it is for people. Australia, you've got to remember, has the third-lowest debt in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), there's only 30 countries in the world with [an] AAA credit rating. People are going to suffer and get hurt if we don't stand at the gate to protect them.''

However, Mr Palmer, whose regular front-page media forays have led many to question his motives, or dismiss him as a political sideshow, denied he was positioning himself as an alternative opposition leader.

''I've got no political ambition at all,'' said the man who ran his election campaign last year touting himself as Australia's next prime minister. ''I just want to do the right thing for the people while I'm there.

''Vice-president Gore flew to Canberra to see me because he was impressed about our ideas and what we wanted to do for our people. He didn't come and see Bill Shorten, he didn't come and see Tony Abbot, he didn't go to the House of Reps and he didn't go to the Senate. He knew, like I did, the most important bit.''